Local storyteller Dan O'Gara dies at 76

Long-time North Coast resident and storyteller Dan O'Gara died Monday. Tim O'Gara said his 76-year-old father was flown from the family's home in Trinidad to UC San Francisco Hospital after suffering a massive stroke.

Although probably best remembered for his role as founder of the North Coast Storytellers and the annual Storytelling Festival by the Sea, the Los Angeles native spent many years teaching with his wife in South America and Indonesia before arriving in Humboldt County to teach with the Eureka City Schools District.

Penne O'Gara said, while her husband of 55 years had a passion for teaching, he lived -- and loved -- to tell stories.

"He told stories all of his life," she said. "I think he liked how much you can learn through stories. He had a jillion books filled with them, but he would also listen to other people tell them. He liked to take a story and make it his own."

Penne O'Gara said after her husband retired early from the Eureka City Schools District, he began teaching and practicing the art of storytelling around the county and state -- even traveling as far away as Ireland to perform. Penne O'Gara said Dan O'Gara loved interacting with children through storytelling.

"It was really fun for him, and kids really responded to him," she said. "Before he would begin, the kids might say, 'Stories are for babies,' but as soon as he started speaking, they stopped thinking that way."

Dan O'Gara had been scheduled to present an interactive storytelling session Saturday as part of the Morris Graves Museum of Art's monthly "Second Saturday Family Arts Day." A museum representative said Thursday that staff were in the process of finding another presenter, and the event would still go on.

Penne O'Gara said she has been amazed by how the community has rallied around her husband's memory to continue the session.

"I am sure that Dan is very proud right now," she said.

A memorial to celebrate the life of Dan O'Gara is being planned to fall on his birthday, July 2, at Trinidad Town Hall.